Dick Durbin: “The final vote, I think, was indicative of the feeling of this body. There were 48 who supported going forward with the…”

“The final vote, I think, was indicative of the feeling of this body. There were 48 who supported going forward with the debate on this amendment and 50 Senators who opposed it. Of course, 48 Senators does not meet the threshold requirement for approving a constitutional amendment, which is 67 Senators. So that gap of 19 Senators suggests this Senate does not believe it is appropriate for us to move forward on that type of constitutional amendment. The vote today is, I think, a good indication that this is an issue whose time has not come. There is no issue in controversy which requires us to amend the Constitution of the United States of America. This debate was not about changing the Constitution. This debate was about changing the subject in the Presidential campaign.”